From Wushan, we went, on a smaller ship, up the "Lesser Three Gorges". Even the bridge on the right will be flooded by the dam, and, before it is demolished, theye are building a much taller one. The white building in the center has been reinforced by stilts and will be on the new water's edge and to the right of it is a new tower that will hold the new suspension bridge. Click to see a large image.
On a smaller ship, going toward the "Lesser Three Gorges", the hills are covered with large posters, all in Chinese, of course, apparently promoting the protection of the forests and the environment. There are, also, many signs with "175", which will be the eventual level (175 meters above the sea), when the big dam raises the water much higher. Click to see a larger image.
On the "Lesser Three Gorges" tour. The BA (not as British Airways), Ba people, 2,000-2,500 years ago, had a habit of putting the dead in "hanging coffins", as high up the cliff as possible. The higher, the closer to heaven. (And this was before water levels rose with the new dam, so they were, at that time, really high up the cliffs! (Many have been flooded by the rising waters of the dam, but some of the highest, such as the one behind us (see arrow) are still there. ... Click to see a larger image.
A "hanging coffin", despite the rise in the water level, this one is still very, very high up on the cliff. They carved an access line and somehow dragged the coffin along it. This person must be very close to heaven ... Click to see a larger image.
Another of the "hanging coffins", this one quite close to the water, but may end up a little above the new "175 meter" level when the big dam fills up. We saw several families of wild monkeys on the steep hillsides, but too small and too far to take photos ... Click to see a larger image.
This is one of the "Lesser Three Gorges" on the Daning River. All the way up and down hundreds of miles you can see that until recently the water level was at 155 meters (above sea level) and was just lowered to 145, to allow for flooding from rains and the earthquake zone, so the band of 30 feet just above the river has no vegetation. Click to see a large image.
A long trip up the Daning River. We left our floating hotel in Wushan and this was on a smaller ship. And, as in the whole huge dam area, water will eventually rise to 175 meters, taking the band you see without vegetation that is about 10 meters, to triple its size. Click for a large image.
Further upriver, we had to get off our smaller ship and boarded several quite small "sampans", to travel into a very tiny gorge. A funny. toothless old man, joined to sing a few songs and pose for photos. "NO, we are not tourists", we all thought to ourselves. Click to see a large image.
Daning River ... and old boat, full of Chinese tourists, passing by us. Many of the hillside fields and houses just behind it will soon be lost to the rising waters of the big dam, but the farmers want "just one more harvest". Click for a large image.
The funny man kept singing, with a lifebelt on, this time. Maybe he did not trust the sampan driver/captain. We saw several families of wild monkeys on the hillsides, too far to photograph, but still thriving. Click to see a large image.
The side river is narrow, we had to transfer to several "sampans". Apparently, we were lucky, because there were only 500 people to move, usually, we were told, there are 10,000 .... must be a traffic jam on the little river. Click for a large image.
Nice ride on the small "sampans". Even this small side gorge will see 30 more meters of flooding soon. Click to see a large image.
Coming back down to the Yangtze River. One of those "hanging coffins" in the background. Click for a large image.
